THE NEW ADVENTURES OF FLIPPER
WHO WILL FLIP FIRST
In the latest episode of the Trump legal saga, we have five of his aides charged as co-conspirators in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election. The names include Rudy Giuliani, Kenneth Chesebro, John Eastman, and Sydney Powell and Jeffrey Clark. The question on everyone's mind is, who will flip first?
Will it be Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City who has been a loyal Trump ally for years? Or will it be Sydney Powell, the attorney who became famous for her outlandish claims about election fraud? Perhaps it will be Kenneth Chesebro, a little-known Trump aide who has flown under the radar until now. Or maybe John Eastman, a law professor who helped draft a memo outlining how Vice President Pence could overturn the election results.
But in a plot twist, will Trump rat out his own team? Will he say, "on advice of my counsels," and throw Giuliani and Powell under the bus? It's anyone's guess at this point.
The recent indictment of Trump and his associates by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has put pressure on the former president. Legal experts suggest that charging co-defendants or co-conspirators in an indictment puts more pressure on them to flip on the target of the investigation, which in this case is Trump.
However, Trump's best defense is to delay the cases until after the November 2024 election. If he wins and regains control of the White House, he cannot be prosecuted, at least according to the DOJ. Willis' case is different from the federal case brought against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith on charges of trying to overturn the result of the 2020 election, as Trump would be unable to pardon himself at the state level.
Willis' indictment charges almost everyone, hoping that some will flip on the former president. It includes five of the six Trump aides who were believed to be unindicted co-conspirators in the federal indictment. The delay in bringing charges likely puts her case fourth in line and means that it is unlikely to go to trial before 2025.
The federal government's criminal indictment of Donald Trump lists six people who allegedly conspired with him to try to steal the 2020 election. Former prosecutors and other legal analysts told USA TODAY they were struck by the fact that special counsel Jack Smith did not announce charges against any of the six even though the indictment describes them as crucial cogs in a broad Trump-led conspiracy to try to overturn Joe Biden's victory.
In a process known as "flipping," prosecutors often use the implied threat of potential criminal charges to pressure suspected co-conspirators into cooperating against their main target − in this case Trump. If Smith can get even a few to flip, it would help his case tremendously.
Former President Trump's new legal defense fund for aides and employees may act as both an act of kindness and an insurance policy against witness flipping. The superseding indictment unveiled Thursday in Trump's classified documents case ensnared a new defendant, Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, in addition to longtime Trump valet Walt Nauta.
While the employee may have cooperated, there is no indication that Trump's co-defendants intend to flip. The threat of cooperating witnesses isn't just confined to Trump's classified documents case. It's not unusual for campaigns to pay for their staff's legal costs, but prosecutors appear to see potential conflicts of interest in Trump's dealings with witnesses.
Rudy Giuliani has sought to distance himself from events in Coffee County, GA, where text messages linked the Trump team to a voting system breach. Lawyer Timothy Parlatore, who previously served on Trump's legal team, suggested that Powell went further than Giuliani or Trump, saying her conduct stood in stark contrast to that of the former president and Giuliani, who were looking to make claims backed up by evidence.
The finger-pointing has begun within Donald Trump's team following the indictment of six co-conspirators over the January 6 Capitol insurrection. The indictment did not name or charge the co-conspirators, leading to speculation about which of them might testify for the prosecution. Trump's legal team has previewed an "advice of counsel" defense, leading to accusations being aimed at former lawyer Sidney Powell, identified as Co-Conspirator 3.
It remains to be seen who will flip first in this legal drama. Will it be Giuliani, Powell, Chesebro, Eastman, or Clark? Or will Trump throw them all under the bus? One thing is for sure: this is going to be one wild ride. Stay tuned for more episodes of The New Adventures of Flipper!
Donald Trump Has Reason to Worry About People Flipping on Him https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-worry-people-flipping-1820022
Donald Trump might welcome the Georgia election charges, but his co-accused might be tempted to 'flip' | US News | Sky News https://news.sky.com/story/trump-might-welcome-the-georgia-election-charges-but-his-co-accused-might-be-tempted-to-flip-12940280
Finger-pointing begins inside Trump team over Jan. 6 indictment - The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/14/finger-pointing-begins-inside-trump-team-over-jan-6-indictment/
Fani Willis successfully flipped eight ‘fake electors.’ Why that matters to Trump. https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-indictment-georgia-fani-willis-fake-electors-rcna91202
New Trump charges evoke years-long fear of witness flipping https://www.axios.com/2023/07/31/trump-witnesses-flip-mar-a-lago-employees
Trump Indictment: Could Co-Conspirators Flip Into Cooperating Witnesses? https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-indictment-co-conspirators-flip-cooperating-witnesses-2023-8